WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive superstar who has captured an enthusiastic following, disputed charges from moderate Democrats that she is making it harder for them to win re-election in 2020.

Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a deep blue district, told USA TODAY that she hasn't used her platform to call out individual Democrats for not signing onto the progressive policies she champions.

“I haven’t put pressure on them specifically,” the New York Democrat said Friday. “We have an opportunity right now to have a national conversation and to move the entire country and raise the consciousness of the entire country to a better place. I’m not speaking to that member to change, I’m speaking to their districts, and I’m trying to have a conversation with the electorate.”

Rifts within parties are nothing new. During their eight years in the majority, Republicans dealt with the rise of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers that pulled legislation to the right. Moderate Republicans who lost their seats in November are still bitter. And there's President Donald Trump, who – like Ocasio-Cortez – uses Twitter to speak directly to his base, often sending members of his party scrambling to keep up.

Democrats have not been immune either. Liberals and moderates battled in the early 2000s over how to shape policy – including what became the Affordable Care Act. Then Democrats, many of them moderates, were wiped out in the 2010 election. Now they're back in power, thanks to dozens of Democrats who won in red and purple districts. Those representatives want to hold onto their seats, but they're fighting to separate themselves from a progressive wing of the party that has become expert at using social media to draw attention to their policies.

USA TODAY talked to more than a dozen Democratic members, aides and strategists across the political spectrum and found there is broad agreement on the need to expand background checks for gun owners, protect immigrants and combat climate change. But some moderates say that the approach Ocasio-Cortez has taken on these topics has been unrealistic and it has left little room for the bipartisan compromise they promised voters during midterm campaigns.

They are also irritated at Ocasio-Cortez’s willingness to use her personal platform – nearly 3.5 million followers on Twitter and a nationwide following – to go after members of her own party. Even House progressives who like her policies don’t know what to make of her approach.

Some members who went on the record declined to address Ocasio-Cortez specifically. Other aides and members asked for anonymity to speak candidly because they didn’t want to be seen as promoting stories about fractures in the party. Some were nervous about being on the receiving end of criticism from Ocasio-Cortez and her supporters.

Courage looks different

After a group of moderate Democrats broke with their party on an immigration-related gun measure last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded them behind closed doors. She urged members to be courageous and stick with their party.

Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a deep blue district, took it a step further. She warned lawmakers that she had alerted left-wing activists that 26 members had voted with Republicans, according to two aides who were in the room.

Then Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, a freshman Democrat who represents a red district in New Mexico, countered, saying that courage looks different in different places.

Trump won Torres Small’s district by 10 percentage points in 2016, and the Democrat is listed as a GOP target in 2020. Torres Small’s office would not elaborate on the meeting other than to say that the account of her remarks, first reported in Politico, was accurate.

The following week, Ocasio-Cortez doubled down on Twitter saying that Democrats who voted with Republicans were making decisions based on a “racist + false trope that Latino immigrants are more dangerous than US born citizens.”

If we’re so concerned about implied tropes, why aren’t we concerned about this one?

Where was the concern last week when 26 Dems voted for a GOP amendment to expand ICE powers rooted in the racist + false trope that Latino immigrants are more dangerous than US born citizens? https://t.co/KNzRDWJH4z

Ocasio-Cortez told USA TODAY that she did not send specific names to her supporters. She did, however, point out that the results of the vote were public. She said she had reached out to left-wing activists to be “proactive” because she expected constituents from her heavily immigrant district to be angry about her vote after an amendment required U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be notified if a person fails a background check because of being in the country illegally.

“The addition of the (amendment) added a toxic anti-immigrant to a clean gun safety bill,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It forced myself and a very large amount of members to have to vote for an anti-immigrant amendment. So that puts me in a tough spot, too, you know? It’s not just about, you know, do 20 people have to take a tough vote? It’s that 200 people had to take a tough vote. So now ... I have to go back to my district and explain to my community why I voted, why I was forced to vote for an anti-immigrant amendment.”

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a freshman Democrat from New Jersey who voted for the amendment, said it made sense for anyone who supported expanding background checks.

“I want to make sure that people who are citizens of this country don’t have access to firearms illegally, and the people who are not citizens of this country don’t have illegal access to firearms,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill's New Jersey colleague Rep. Josh Gottheimer, co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said that Democrats won back the majority “through the middle, through districts like mine. And so we need to make sure that, you know, we recognize that all districts are different.

“What we can’t do is say who belongs in the party and who doesn’t.”

New approach

Even House progressives who agree with Ocasio-Cortez’s policies – and like having someone to gin up energy on the issues – aren’t sure what to make of her approach.

“In my experience it has never really been productive in the past,” Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., said about Ocasio-Cortez’s public shaming of members of the same party. Grijalva is the former chair of the Progressive Caucus and supports much of the agenda Ocasio-Cortez is pushing.

Political consequences

“Every candidate is going to be associated with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Michael McAdams a spokesman for the House Republicans’ campaign arm said.

Recognizing the strategy, one aide to a new member who flipped a Republican seat, said if the aide’s boss was placed next to Ocasio-Cortez at a news conference, the aide would try to move the lawmaker to avoid photographs of the two together. The aide was concerned a photo could be used by a Republican opponent during a re-election campaign.

Some Democrats say the rollout was botched when an information page was posted that talked about eliminating air travel and cow flatulence. The page has since been taken down, but Republicans have not forgotten.

Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo – a moderate Republican who lost his Florida seat in November – said all Democrats should be worried.

“My sympathies to them,” Curbelo said.

Curbelo blames the far-right of his party for shifting legislation so far from the mainstream that it no longer appealed to voters in his district.

“You cannot work hard enough to distinguish yourself because these members at the extremes of the political spectrum will always be at an advantage in terms of generating attention, getting on national television, getting retweeted,” Curbelo said.

Some veteran Democratic strategists say endangered lawmakers shouldn’t be so worried. Ocasio-Cortez is getting people excited about Democratic ideas, even though proposals will ultimately vary on details. Plus, they say, all of the Democrats who represent red and purple districts did a good job of sidestepping another bogeywoman during their last election.

Republicans pounded Democrats with ads about ties to Pelosi, whom they accused of being a “San Francisco liberal." Yet, Democrats were still able to flip the House.

The GOP strategy "is not a strategy that worked in 2018. I don’t believe it is a strategy that will work going forward,” said Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic strategist and former spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.

“And really, to take Republican criticism and let it live by lending it credence, doesn’t do anybody in the party any good,” Woodhouse said.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives on stage to speak to her supporters during her election night party in the Queens Borough of New York on Nov. 6, 2018. 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New Yorks 14th Congressional district won Tuesdays election, defeating Republican Anthony Pappas and becomes the youngest woman elected to Congress. DON EMMERT, AFP/Getty Images

People watch the mid-term elections results while celebrating Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez congressional race big win during her election night party in the Queens Borough of New York on Nov. 6, 2018. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is running as the Democratic nominee for New York's 14th congressional district, talks with reporters after casting her ballot in the 2018 midterm general election at a polling site in the Bronx, New York on Nov. 6, 2018. Voters across the nation are selecting who will represent them on local, state and national levels. Justin Lane, EPA-EFE

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is running as the Democratic nominee for New York's 14th congressional district, casts her ballots in the 2018 mid-term general election at a polling site in the Bronx, New York on Nov. 6, 2018. Justin Lane, EPA-EFE

New York Democratic Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez embraces a supporter at a polling site after voting, Tuesday Nov. 6, 2018, in the Parkchester community in the Bronx, N.Y. Bebeto Matthews, AP

New York City congressional nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends a tour event as part of her congressional campaign, in The Bronx, New York on Oct. 3, 2018. Ocasio-Cortez attended the event as part of her campaign's commitment to cultivate dialogue in the Bronx and Queens. Alba Vigaray, EPA-EFE

Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with reporters after her general campaign kick-off rally in the Bronx borough of New York on Sept. 22, 2018. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic candidate running for New York's 14th Congressional district, listens to questions at a town hall event, September 19, 2018 in The Bronx borough of New York City. In a race she is widely expected to win, Ocasio-Cortez will face Republican nominee Anthony Pappas in the November 6 general election. Drew Angerer, Getty Images

Campaign workers prepare for the arrival of democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her general campaign kick-off rally on Sept. 22, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with supporters during her general campaign kick-off rally in the Bronx borough of New York on Sept. 22, 2018. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with supporters during her general campaign kick-off rally in the Bronx borough of New York Sept. 22, 2018. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Campaign brochures about democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are on hand for her general campaign kick-off rally on Sept. 22, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

New York City congressional nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, left, high-fives a young school boy at Public School 019 in Corona, Queens, New York on Sept. 13, 2018. Today voters are casting ballots in the New York State Democratic Primary. Peter Foley, EPA-EFE

In this June 27, 2018, photo, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a winner of a Democratic Congressional primary in New York speaks to a reporter in New York. Ocasio-Cortez is back on the campaign trail, but this time in the Midwest. The 28-year-old Democratic rising star is stumping for two young, progressives hoping to win Democratic primaries in Kansas and Michigan. Mary Altaffer, AP

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the winner of a Democratic Congressional primary in New York, greets a passerby in New York, Wednesday, June 27, 2018, the morning after she upset U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in Tuesday's primary election. Mark Lennihan, AP